We’ll Always Have Paris … Hilton

When Rick Whatsizname tells Ilsa Whatshername “We’ll always have Paris,” he’s not talking about the actuality of present-day Paris, nor about the imagined Paris of an indefinite future. Instead, he’s harking back to a hazy, passion-tinged memory of Paris — a city glimpsed in the peripheral vision of thoroughly besotted lovers, awash in an invisible cloud of pheromones, who have eyes only for each others eyes. Ahhhhhhh! Love! Paris!

But I digress. This blogpost isn’t about the City of Lights, nor about love (more’s the pity). It’s just a slapdash, kneejerk reaction to a tiny morsel of infotainment media hype, a tiny ripple in the vast heaving sea of data in which we’re all increasingly immersed.

Earlier this week, a minor news item reported that Paris Hilton has taken the next big step in building her personal brand by opening her first bricks-and-mortar boutique … in Bogota, Colombia. Lunghu had had no idea, but apparently PH (through distribution channels known only to the cognoscenti) has been selling a line of handbags, shoes, perfume, and whatnot for the past few years. Once you’ve savored The Simple Life, it seems, moderate complexity has a whole new allure. Leaving aside –for the moment– discussion about how moderately complicated things might become if this nascent commercial venture becomes enmeshed in LaVuelta, let’s just confine ourselves to taking a look at the Paris Hilton brand logo. Does something seem sorta familiar?

Just sayin’ … Who’s gonna be first in line to sue for trademark infringement: Bellagio or Louis Vuitton?